Silicon Valley Sees Shortage of EV Charge Stations

An increasing number of electric-vehicle driving employees at Silicon Valley companies are finding it hard to access car-charging stations at work, creating incidents of “charge rage” among drivers.

Installation of electric vehicle charging ports at some companies has not kept pace with soaring demand, creating thorny etiquette issues in the workplace, the San Jose Mercury News reported (http://bit.ly/1joxwJ6).

Peter Graf, chief sustainability officer for German software company SAP, says the company’s 16 charging stations are now not nearly enough for the 61 employees who drive electric vehicles.

Graf says cars are getting unplugged while charging, creating animosity between employees. A charge can take as little as 30 minutes.

“Cars are getting unplugged while they are actively charging, and that’s a problem,” Graf told the newspaper. “Employees are calling and messaging each other, saying, ‘I see you’re fully charged, can you please move your car?'”

The company is drafting guidelines for EV-driving employees.

ChargePoint, which operates a large EV-charging network, says companies should provide one charging port for every two of their employees’ electric vehicles.

Companies everywhere will probably begin facing similar problems.
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